Gotta learn to measure...

Banana Muffins

2009-03-20T17:46:00.007-04:00

Returning to the blogging world. Spent the past...well...quite a while...just wanting to spend time with my puppy...now that puppy is gone, it's time to return to this hobby.

I've been cooking & baking like crazy, or so it feels. I don't have a whole heck of a lot of motivation, but I make dinner most nights of the week. And I try to make something (muffins, scones) for breakfast in the morning. Today, (although it's the weekend, so probably not the best timing for "work brekkies"!) I decided to use up some of the buttermilk that I had leftover from St. Patty's Day irish soda bread to make these muffins.

I just found this recipe the other day on Phemomenon, and immediately bookmarked it because of the excess buttermilk in my fridge. And while I was getting the ingredients ready, I realized I also had quite a few bananas to use up. Perfect!

I made quite a few changes, the most significant being swapping banana in for the butter. Healthy, no? :) They rose really tall, perfect muffin texture and delicious!

Buttermilk Spice Muffins
adapted from Mimi's Cafe

Batter
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup mashed bananas (abt 2 medium bananas)
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup & 1 Tbsp buttermilk

Topping
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream bananas and sugar (I used a hand mixer). Add 3 eggs and blend until well-combined. Batter will be very wet at this stage.

In a separate small bowl, sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon & nutmeg.

Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the banana mixture and combine until just blended. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk, combine. Blend in the rest of the flour, then the rest of the buttermilk. Batter will have thickened quite a bit.

In separate bowl (you can use the one you used for the flour), combine the topping ingredients and mix until combined.

Grease muffin tins. Pour batter in the muffin tins 1/2-3/4 full, then add a small spoonful of the topping. Put into oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.

*Now obviously these are not your typical bakery muffin! Not quite as moist (no butter!) but still great texture and flavor. And not as sweet, because I severely slashed the sugar. I love muffins like this because I feel good about grabbing them for breakfast in the morning! And because of course they taste delicious. :)

Spinach Zucchini Ricotta Frittata

2008-11-06T18:51:00.003-05:00

Ok, this is a little late in the season, but seeing as how Tim hates anything pumpkin or fall spices, I haven't been doing much seasonal cooking & baking around here. Well, that's a lie. We've tried a few winter squash recipes, but they were very simplistic & really not worth mentioning. Squash is still growing on us...give us time...or suggestions! :)

With the last of the zucchini from the farmers market (besides the 14 bags I froze) I decided to make this delicious looking dish from Simply Recipes. As I mentioned, squash is still growing on us, & Tim is usually reluctant to eat recipes with zucchini...but he loved it! The zucchini tasted amazing having been fried before mixing it into the frittata. It's also relatively easy to make, so it's a win on all sides!

Spinach Zucchini Ricotta Frittata
adapted from Simply Recipes

6 large eggs
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 small zucchini, or one larger one, washed and sliced into thin rounds (about 3/4 pound)
2 cups fresh spinach

Beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Add the ricotta and Parmesan and beat to combine. Add the salt, freshly ground black pepper, basil and thyme and beat to combine. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch oven-proof stick-free skillet on medium high. When the oil is hot and begins to shimmer, add the zucchini slices. Stir so that the zucchini slices are all coated with some of the oil. Cook, stirring only occasionally (if you stir too much the zucchini won't brown), until the zucchini slices are lightly browned, about 5-6 minutes. Add spinach and heat for another minute or so. Remove from heat. Remove zucchini slices and spinach from the pan with tongs or a slotted spoon to a bowl. Let cool for 30 seconds or so, and then stir the zucchini slices and zucchini into the egg mixture.

Reheat the skillet. There should be a couple of tablespoons of oil left in the pan, if not, add some. When the oil is hot, pour the egg mixture into the pan. Do not stir it. Reduce the heat to medium. Let the egg mixture cook. Run a spatula along the edge of the frittata, separating the cooked edges from the pan. Let the egg mixture cook until the bottom is golden brown and the top is beginning to set, about 5-6 minutes.

Set the top rack 5 inches from the heating element in the oven. Preheat the oven broiler. Once the top of the frittata has started to set in the pan on the stove top, remove the pan from the stove and place it in the oven. With the broiler on, the door of the oven needs to be open. You can let the pan's handle stick out from the oven through the open door. Cook under the broiler until the top starts to become lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

*Alternatively, instead of using the broiler, you can place a plate face-down on top of the skillet. Flip the skillet over to release the frittata on to the plate. Then slide the frittata from the plate back on to the skillet. Let cook for a couple of minutes more until the bottom side gets browned.

Slide the frittata out of the skillet onto a serving plate. Let cool for a minute or two and serve.

Serves 2-3.

*I used the broiler method...worked for me!

Since it's no longer zucchini season, I bet this dish would work well with just spinach. Not that spinach is really in season either, but much easier to come by in the winter...

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-30T22:56:00.003-04:00

As annoyed as he looks, he actually doesn't even notice he's wearing it! :)

Be amazed.

2008-10-28T16:37:00.009-04:00

For the first time in my life (ok, maybe not my entire life), I followed a recipe to the T. Exactly. I didn't even try to change a thing.*

I've been falling all over myself trying to make apple recipes (although...why? we go through apples like they're going out of style...I can barely keep enough around for baking!) at about the same time we had a basket full of (rotting) bananas sitting in the kitchen. I forget if I food blog searched for a recipe or if I happened upon it another way, but regardless of how it went, this recipe is perfect. It comes from The Goddess's Kitchen and it involves banana bread & caramelised apples, so, really, it would be hard to go wrong.

It originally came from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book (which I am totally dying to get) and was quite perfect, just the way it was written. :) I do think I may have cut my apples too small or perhaps over-caramelized them, because it was more like there were slim shivers of apples than actual chunks. I liked it that way though...added a bit of sweetness & flavor to the banana bread without taking away from the banana bread.

Mom's Banana Apple Bread
adapted from The Goddess's Kitchen

Makes one 1½ -quart loaf pan (2lb/900g)

For the apples:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the banana bread:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
¼ cup fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups very ripe mashed bananas (2 to 3)

Before you start:Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/180oC. Lightly butter and flour a 1 1/2-quart loaf pan.

To make the apples:Preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and brown sugar and heat until bubbling. Add the apples and cinnamon and sauté until golden and tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

To make the banana bread:-In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the orange juice and vanilla.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the orange juice mixture, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each flour addition. Stir in the mashed bananas until combined. Then stir in the reserved apples.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool further.

Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. The banana bread keeps well wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, freeze well wrapped in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil for up to 3 weeks. Defrost (still wrapped) at room temperature.

*(Of course I did use cute little leaf molds instead ofloaf pans. That's allowed, right?)

Zucchini Rice Gratin courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

2008-10-09T20:35:00.003-04:00

I really wanted to make the zucchini rice gratin that was recently on Smitten Kitchen. I had both tomatoes & zucchini that needed to be used, and everything about the dish sounded delicious. The only problem being that Tim hates tomatoes...and zucchini. Kind of crucial to the recipe.

Luckily I am fortunate to have a boyfriend who, despite hating quite a few of my favorite ingredients, is willing to try any dish that I make (knowing of course that a bowl of Ramen is waiting on the sidelines if it's disgusting). I was starving when I started making dinner & didn't really want to wait around to roast the veggies in the oven, so I actually just pan-fried the zucchini & onions, then threw in the tomato near the end. I also mixed together all the ingredients instead of putting the rice on the bottom, & I'm really glad I went that route. Oh & (almost done with my modifications, promise) I put 2x the number of eggs in so it was kind of a mix between the gratin & a frittata.

Verdict? "I can't believe I'm actually eating tomatoes. It's good!"

And I couldn't stop eating it. In fact, I really kind of still want to eat it.

Zucchini Rice Gratin
originally from Gourmet March 2008, via Epicurious

1/2 cup long-grain brown rice
2 medium zucchini, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1/4 cup shredded Manchego

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Cook rice according to package instructions.

While rice cooks, heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, saute zucchini for about 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add onions & garlic, saute for another 2 or 3 minutes, then turn heat down to medium & add tomatoes, cooking just until tomatoes are heated through.

Pour zucchini-tomato mixture into a medium casserole dish, along with the cooked rice, eggs, 1 Tbsp oil, 1/2 of the cheese, salt & pepper. Mix well & sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. Place on middle rack in the oven & bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.

I will definitely make this again. It was really easy with my slight modifications, & it was more than delicious. This time I used a few less veggies than I typically would in order to disguise the tomato & zucchini flavor with cheese and eggs. We had some Manchego cheese which I think added a great flavor to the dish, but of course you could substitute with all Parmesan.

Apologies for the horrible pictures...we devoured most of it before I even thought of taking out the camera, & then I didn't want to plate more in case my camera wasn't going to work.

Make this immediately! And eat it often. :)

Guiltless coffe cake!

2008-09-28T22:39:00.007-04:00

I've been baking. And cooking. Probably more lately than usual. And yet, no posting...

Crazy, right?

In fact, I (ok, we, I didn't eat it all myself) just devoured this recipe without even thinking of taking a picture. (It was delicious, by the way. Make sure to try it!) Too hungry? Maybe. But I'd rather blame it on my camera. :) I'm just not excited about taking pictures anymore. I've been known to take hundreds of pictures in a night, but today I found myself walking out of the house to pick apples (hehe) without my camera, on purpose. I need a new camera.

Sometimes when I take photos, I get this:

Other times this:

But often the photo is mostly clear, except for a thick blue line across the top. Easily crop-able, but really not ideal.

So I'm looking for new cameras. Suggestions? Advice? I like compact cameras that I can easily carry around.

In the meantime, enjoy this banana coffee cake from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. Delicious! I made a couple changes, most obvious being the addition of dairy & eggs...so check the original if you want the vegan version. This is a perfect recipe to start the day...especially if it's warm.

Banana Coffee Cake
adapted from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen

2.5 Tbsp egg whites
1/8 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/6 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1/6 cup skim milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 Tbsp water
1/2 cup unbleached AP flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 medium banana, ripe

Preheat the oven to 375F and grease a small baking dish.

Mix 3 Tbsp brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Combine the yogurt, milk, vanilla, and 1/8 cup brown sugar in a bowl. Add the egg whites.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and spread to cover the bottom. Slice the bananas and place the slices over the batter. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon-sugar. Spread the remaining batter over the bananas. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon-sugar. Bake for 25 minutes, or until cake appears set in the middle. Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting into slices and serving.

I actually halved the original recipe & used a small pyrex bowl to make the coffee cake a bit deeper. I enjoyed it warm, and it was very moist & flavorful. And lots of healthy ingredients!

Ginger Cookies

2008-09-17T05:44:00.010-04:00

Ginger is supposed to be good for the tummy, right? Well maybe not when you eat a few of these before you get anything healthy (ie lunch) in your stomach. Of course, that's what I did. :)

I made these because a friend's mom was feeling a little sick stomach'ed (yes it's a word) lately, & hadn't been eating very much, so I thought these cookies might settle her stomach a bit. I ended up using a combination of recipes, using the Food Blog Search as my guide. I think I mostly used this recipe as my starting point, but in the end mine weren't a whole lot like the original. I didn't have any molasses (& won't anytime soon, as apparently at Tim's job they use molasses to make bacteria grow & eat up contaminants in the ground...he can't stand the smell) so I used a combo of honey & dark brown sugar. Obviously these cookies didn't have that pretty brown color that makes ginger cookies famous, but the flavor was amazing anyway. I think the ginger flavor stood out a bit better in these cookies than in molasses-based recipes.

I also almost didn't add the water to the recipe, since I included an egg, but the batter seemed a little too thick (read: I couldn't stir it) so I put some water in there after all.

Ginger-y Ginger Cookies
adapted from Frantic Home Cook

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 cup light brown sugar
1/8 cup honey & 1/8 cup dark brown sugar, blended
1 egg
1/3 cup water
2 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup minced crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease baking sheets. In medium bowl mix together flour, baking soda, spices & salt. Set aside. Cream together butter & light brown sugar in another bowl. Add egg, water & honey/dark brown sugar mixture. Combine wet & dry ingredients & blend. Stir in crystallized ginger.

These were really easy to make (besides the mincing of ginger by hand) which was wonderful. As I mentioned before, they definitely have a strong ginger flavor & they also have a nice light texture. I made them quite small so the recipe probably made well over 50 cookies. If your cookies are larger, I'm sure there would be quite a few less!

Just a note, the cookies did not spread at all, so you might want to press them down with the bottom of a glass or your hand before baking.

And then use the glass to pour some nice cold milk to go with these cookies. :)

Enjoy!

What in the world...

2008-09-12T23:06:00.007-04:00

...is this a picture of? Colorful, if not creepy. Food? Sludge?

Oh, I shouldn't make references to sludge when I'm presenting you with a recipe...? :) My bad.

We've been having some major quinoa cravings around here lately. Last time we ran out I made an emergency Trader Joe's run...only to find out that it was out of stock. Luckily, I found some bins of loose quinoa much closer to home a few days later. I love walking around those health food stores, with all their bins of loose nuts, grains, CHOCOLATE, trail mix, etc. I have enjoyed more than an afternoon or two staring in all those beautiful containers...exciting life around here...

Oh, right, you wanted to know what's in that picture up there.

So in those bins I found not only plain old quinoa, but red quinoa! Imagine my excitement...! One night I was in the mood for some veggie fried rice, but decided that making it with quinoa instead of rice might be an interesting twist. Not to mention I happened to have some leftover red quinoa in the fridge, & it would look awfully pretty mixed in with all those veggies.

Usually when I make veggie fried rice, I use egg whites because I don't have regular eggs in the fridge. Hence the white liquid-y pond in the center of the upper pic. The egg whites don't have the same flavor (of course) but they do give the dish nice texture. If I happen to have eggs around, I mix egg whites with just one egg.

The first time I made veggie fried rice I used this delicious recipe: Love at First Slice
but now I kind of wing it. I usually use tofu & brown rice, then vary the veggies. For this batch I used red, yellow & green pepper slices (frozen, thawed), edamame, peas, corn, carrots & red quinoa, along with sesame oil & egg whites. I never measure, otherwise I'd have a bit more of a recipe for you today. :) But if you're new to making fried rice, the recipe above is a great start. Although I'm probably the only person in the world who didn't know how to make fried rice until recently!

This was really good. A bit mushier than fried rice, but that was a good contrast to the crunchier veggies. I guess I should mention I just subbed in cooked quinoa in place of the cooked rice, 1:1 ratio. Definitely similar to the original, but, imho, much much much prettier!

Blueberry (Banana) Pancakes

2008-09-06T13:30:00.003-04:00

Finally took a Saturday morning to show Tim that pancakes are not always derived from Bisquick... ;)

These were really good. I have to admit that I'm not a fan of plain pancakes...and just throwing some blueberries in the batter won't cut it either. I usually like a little bit (or a lot a bit) of whole wheat in the batter, or some nuts for texture. In this recipe, the addition of banana satisfied my texture cravings. The flavor is not overwhelming, but instead is very complementary to the blueberries. I also added some cinnamon (of course) to give it an extra dimension. Oh, and vanilla. I loooove vanilla. At some point I'm going to get my hands on some vanilla beans, & then I am sure I will truly be in heaven.

I added the blueberries individually to the pancakes (plopped em on top of the batter before I flipped the pancakes) but feel free to fold them into the batter instead.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup skim milk
1 egg
1/2 small banana, mashed
1 cup unbleached AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries, rinsed

Stir together buttermilk, skim milk, egg, vanilla extract & banana. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar & cinnamon. Pour wet mixture into the dry mixture & blend until just combined.

Heat griddle or pan to medium. Spritz with cooking spray or add about 1/2 Tbsp of oil to the pan. Once oil or cooking spray is hot (water sprinkled in the oil sizzles), pour batter into the pan until the pancake reaches desired size. Add blueberries (by hand) to the pancakes, then wait 2 or 3 minutes or until bubbles form in the batter. Flip pancakes and wait another 2 minutes, or until 2nd side is golden. Remove pancakes from heat & enjoy immediately!

Makes about 10 pancakes.

Our new family member!

2008-09-02T15:46:00.005-04:00

Just a first few photos... :) He's pretty fantastic so far, he even slept through the night last night! And so far we're 50/50 on the bathroom inside/outside. Not so bad! Haha. So calm! We'll see how long that lasts...

Food soon! I have a couple to post, I'm just a little preoccupied!

Guess who's coming to live with us...

2008-09-01T21:50:00.004-04:00

Now I know the traditional recipes have chicken stock, liver, or what-have-you, but my vegetarian lifestyle does not often find these in the cabinets. Instead, I went with PEANUT BUTTER! (Something which I know & love very well.)

Recipe found here.

Not sure how delicious they taste. ;)

Can you guess who the newest member of our family is...?

Heidi's Spinach Artichoke Dip

2008-08-29T20:25:00.001-04:00

I've been waiting for a chance to make this dip since I saw it earlier this year...unfortunately having people over is not something that happened often in our last little apartment! I finally got a chance to break out the recipe this past weekend & I was more than pleased. I added some spinach to the recipe, of course forgetting to wait until after I'd blended the other ingredients, so I ended up with something that looked like ectoplasm. It still tasted delicious, & since I completely forgot to take pictures, today's recipe is sans illustration, which might be a good thing. ;) Check out Heidi's website for some delicious looking photos instead!

Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 12-ounce bag of frozen artichokes (mine were Trader Joe's brand...you can use canned too)
3 cups baby spinach, chopped
3 ounces silken tofu
3 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/8 tsp freshly ground sea salt
pinch of cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. In a blender or food processor puree the artichokes, tofu, and garlic. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the spinach, parmesan cheese, yogurt, salt, and cayenne. Stir in the artichoke puree and pour mixture into a medium-sized baking dish (or multiple smaller dishes). Sprinkle the top with more Parmesan. Bake uncovered until heated through and the cheese on the top starts to brown, about 45 minutes.

Now, I have a big block of silken tofu left over, & unfortunately I have no idea what to do with it. I don't want it to go to waste, so...what can I do with silken tofu? I don't like it in smoothies, but other than that I've never really had it. Any ideas? I trust your foodie brains more than my own!

Ok. One picture. Because, really, is a post a post without any photos?

Lately I have been making these every night for a snack. It feels healthy. :)

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter "Milkshakes"

1 frozen banana
1 cup cold chocolate milk
1 Tbsp peanut butter

Throw in blender & blend!

(The guinness glass purchased by Tim's mom at a yard sale is optional!)

Simple Banana Bread

2008-08-25T19:33:00.001-04:00

Ah, today I did something very unlike me. And it made me happy.

I'm one of those people who loves to use millions of ingredients in her recipes. A little whole wheat flour here, some AP there, and a little graham flour for good measure. Add-ins? Chocolate, raisins, zucchini, banana, applesauce, cherries, blueberries, nuts... And the list (usually) goes on.

And though Tim loves my baking & cooking, sometimes he'll say to me, "Can we just have Bisquick pancakes today?" And then I remember that people actually like simple, basic recipes. And actually prefer them over extravagant, complex ones. Silly me, how hard this is to remember.

(I haven't yet mentioned to Tim that you can in fact still make pancakes from scratch with plain AP flour...that Bisquick really isn't the main ingredient of pancakes...but I'll save that for another day! :) Keeping quiet is one way to get him to make the pancakes...)

So Tim's been in southern Illinois since Thursday, working through the weekend 14 hours a day, & he's tired of it. Today's his last day before he comes home to me, so to make it easier to get through the day, I told him I'd bake him whatever he wants for when he gets home.

He chose banana bread. I immediately thought of all the combos out there...nutella, pb, chocolate, caramel! Then I quickly realized that what he has in mind is probably good ol' plain banana bread. When I ask if he wants anything in it, he answers plain & simple: nuts.

And so, with great difficulty, I created a (nearly) plain loaf of banana bread.

I used the banana bread from Simply Recipes as a base (I still intend to make the delicious looking cake from The Wednesday Chef, but figured I'd stick as close to the simple bread as possible). I halved it because I only had 2 bananas (so sad!) & made very few other changes.

Banana Bread
adapted from Simply Recipes

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2.5 Tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 egg, beaten
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unbleached AP flour
1/4 cup graham flour
1 tsp instant coffee

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Mix instant coffee & 1/2 tsp hot water, then add to butter. With a wooden spoon, mix butter mixture into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered mini loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Ok. Yes. I did add instant coffee. Only a little. Oh, and I did add a little tiny tiny bit of graham flour, which I don't really count. And some cinnamon. See...step in the right direction! :)

It was pretty yummy. Not as moist as I expected it to be, but I did use frozen bananas, & I did allow them to leak all over the counter as they defrosted for far too long. I'll have to try again soon with fresh ones!

Amano Chocolate

2008-08-19T10:23:00.000-04:00

I am so late on this post. Honestly, in all the packing & unpacking I had completely forgotten about this amazing chocolate. I actually did such an amazing job forgetting about it that I went to Trader Joe's on an emergency dark chocolate run & had consumed 1/2 the bar before it occurred to me that I already had plenty of chocolate...(wait, can you ever really have too much chocolate?)

I put off eating the chocolate at first because I wanted to make something delicious with it. The first bar I opened was Cuyagua (70% cacao minimum. I made sure to reserve a few squares of the bar for taste testing of course. The rest of the bar was made into brownies (with coconut & hazelnuts if I remember correctly) & those were well-received. I also allowed the bf & mother-in-law-ish to taste some of the real chocolate, & they couldn't stop saying how good it was.

The second bar (Madagascar) I used to make a delicious frosting for my orange-chocolate chunk cake...basically it was just the bar of chocolate melted & some oj mixed with cocoa powder...oh & a little bit of confectioner's sugar. Don't even get me started on the exact measurements, that frosting was a catastrophe of ingredients thrown together. In the end though, the flavor of the frosting was amazing, probably mostly due to the delicious Amano chocolate.

And the third bar? Yes, that's still waiting, quietly, to be eaten in a moment of indulgence. :) It's called Ocumare & it's supposed to have fruity & floral notes! Yum!

Chocolate Orange Yogurt Cake

2008-08-17T07:38:00.001-04:00

So as you might have guessed from my last post, this cake was not nearly as moist as the cake Deb made over at Smitten Kitchen...that's what happens when you cut out all the ingredients that make it moist! :) But it did have a great flavor & I rather liked the texture. It was light & filling at the same time, & oh so orange-y. I think everyone really enjoyed it. I did decide to frost it after all, but don't even get me started on that! The frosting doesn't look the greatest, but it complemented the cake well.

Chocolate Orange Yogurt Cake
Adapted from Ina Garten

courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup vanilla nonfat yogurt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup egg whites
2 teaspoons grated orange zest (approximately 1 orange)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
5 oz dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 (+) minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in (a pastry brush works great for this, as does using a toothpick to make tiny holes that draw the syrup in better). Cool.

Sneak Peek!

2008-08-13T22:03:00.005-04:00

I have this little guy constantly sitting on my shoulder when I bake. He's like "No, you don't need eggs in there...egg whites will be just fine." Or "Honestly? You need that much oil? Just throw a banana in there instead. Or some applesauce." It's getting to the point where I just can't manage to bake ANYTHING without "cutting down" on the unhealthy qualities...or as some might call them, the delicious qualities. And the thing is, I'm doing it even when I'm baking for someone else. Like, in a birthday cake. Aren't birthday cakes supposed to be indulgent?

Goodness gracious, what has my world come to...

:) Stay tuned for my "healthy" (ok I do include dark chocolate on my list of "healthy") birthday cake! Maybe I'll make some heavy frosting & satisfy someone's sweet tooth!

If I never have to grate sweet potato again...

2008-07-25T23:40:00.009-04:00

I'm not even going to lie & say that I've returned to blogging. It is just TOO beautiful outside to stay in for too long! I have been making a few things, in moderation, as the need arises, but I've definitely been slacking. On the other hand, however, my bike & I have become very well acquainted. See...a summer friend (bike) & a winter friend (kitchen). :) Not so bad!

I'd been wanting to make muffins lately as I love to grab them as I run out the door in the morning. I had bookmarked this recipe a long time ago from Joy the Baker, & when I came across it again I realized I had both zucchini AND sweet potato! Honestly, very unexpected. I especially like that she lightens the recipe a bit, and because, as you know, I like to overdo things, I lightened it up a bit more.

And omg. The best thing about this recipe? Accidentally vegan. That's right, I forgot the eggs. Completely. I'm sure that it affected the texture of the breads, but it was delicious without the eggs, so I didn't mind. Tim said they were the best muffins ever. Even after he found out there were sweet potatoes in them. :)

Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread
adapted from Joy the Baker

1/2 cup unbleached AP flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup graham flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups finely grated zucchini
1 1/2 cups peeled & grated sweet potato
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 9×5x3- inch loaf pan, 4 mini loaf pans or 2 cupcake tins and set aside. Sift dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl. In a separate, large bowl, beat the sugars, oil, applesauce and vanilla extract. Mix in the zucchini and sweet potato. Add the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Fold in the nuts and cranberries and stir well.

Transfer batter to prepared pan(s). Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour for loaf pan, 20 minutes for mini loaf or cupcake tins. Cool bread in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Loosen the edges of the bread with a butter knife and turn out on a rack to cool completely. Can be prepared 1 day in advance. Wrap in foil and keep at room temperature. Alternatively, wrap in plastic wrap/foil & freeze until you need it.

Eggplant!

2008-07-07T22:39:00.004-04:00

I bought an eggplant. Yes, that's a cause for celebration. You see, Tim's not exactly an eggplant kind of guy. So since he's out of town, I've been eating all the eggplant I can get. Nothing too complicated, and no eggplant parm, which is rather unfortunate, but I'm too hungry to take the time to make it when meal time arrives.

This afternoon I decided to fill a couple pitas. Not really a recipe, but delicious nonetheless. First I grilled the eggplant (ok, I lied. I george foreman'ed the eggplant) & sprinkled with salt & pepper. I just used two thick slices - one slice for each 1/2 pita. The eggplant was really quite delicious "grilled" & I'm sure I'll do it again soon.

For the 1st 1/2 pita, I spread red pepper hummus & stuffed it with the eggplant & some fresh spinach. I then put the pita back into the "grill" for a few minutes.

For the 2nd 1/2 pita, I spread some pesto on the inside & stuffed it with the eggplant. I also took some mozzarella & spread it on top of the eggplant.

They were both delicious. I thought for sure that I'd prefer the indulgent pesto mozzarella, but I actually liked them both equally. A perfect midafternoon meal. :)

Back in Business!

2008-06-29T19:33:00.001-04:00

This weekend, I baked for the first time in...I don't know...2 months? More? I've been anxious to make my way back into the kitchen, but every time I walk in, I'm reminded of what a mess it is. I finally sucked it up & decided to make Tim a delicious dessert for when he returned from work...where he is EVERY DAY ALL WEEK only to return to me on the weekends. Boo.

On the plus side, in case anyone decides to attack, he reminds me every time he leaves that there's a metal bat next to the couch "in case I need it". :)

So I know I've missed so many food blog recipes on my hiatus, but I decided to go with a fairly recent post by Bake or Break to guide me back into the game. I was looking for something very chocolately, and this chocolate cobbler fit the bill. However, with all the eating out we had been doing, lately I'm trying to make sure to stay with healthy, natural ingredients, and so I tweaked the (probably much more delicious!) recipe a bit. For a while now, I've been baking decadently because I know that's what everyone enjoys...but in truth, I really prefer to try to use less indulgent ingredients to make dishes that taste (imho) quite delicious. Here's my recipe, with another link to the original.

"Healthy" Chocolate Cobbler
modified from Bake or Break

1 cup sugar, divided in 1/2
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup white whole wheat flour
7 Tbsp cocoa, divided into 3 & 4 Tbsp
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1 1/2 cups hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir together 1/2 cup sugar, flour, 3 Tbsp cocoa, baking powder & salt.

Stir in yogurt, banana & vanilla until smooth.

In small bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar & 4 Tbsp cocoa. Sprinkle evenly over batter. Pour hot water over top. Do not stir.

Bake in oven for about 35 minutes...there will be a sort of chocolate sauce that remains on the bottom of the dish, so there's no need to bake until all liquid is gone.

As stated in the original recipe, this dish is so simple. Honestly, I accidentally poured some of the water into the cocoa mixture, then quickly poured that on top of the batter, then just poured the rest of the hot water on top. Still worked!

And, again, as stated in the original post, definitely best served with ice cream! Yum! (Ok, really you'll have to make it yourself to understand how delicious it is with ice cream...the lack of light when I took the picture created a picture that's definitely NOT worth a thousand words.)

Enjoy!

too busy to eat well!

2008-05-28T15:43:00.002-04:00

I have a confession to make...today I finally looked through some food blogs, for the first time in weeks. The only food we have consumed in the past few weeks has been contained in small grocery bags on the banks of a river:

Or, eaten by a campfire:

Or eaten out of a cone right next to the ocean:

We also dined out at far too many chain restaurants in between all our trips & I am dying to eat some cooked at home food. To make up for all of the on-the-go eating, though, we spent some amazing time here:

(our view from our tent!!)

and here:

as well as some other very pretty places.

I'll have to wait to make any of your amazing recipes of course, as I am still in the midst of living between towns. I've just eaten some salad at Panera (more chains!!?? yes...well....they have internet...I don't). At least it was salad though. :) With strawberries & blueberries & pineapple...yum! I would take a picture, but, whoops! I ate it all in a hurry.

Honestly, I don't know when I'll have time (or cooking pans) to make yummy meals anytime soon, but hopefully at least I'll have more time near a computer!

Heidi's Big Sur Power Bars

2008-05-16T10:32:00.000-04:00

Following a cue from 101 Cookbooks, I decided to make some power bars for our upcoming camping trip. Of course, unfortunately we won't be going somewhere as amazing as she did! But we are excited for our trip...a last hurrah before we move & have actual jobs. Ew.

I made a whole bunch of changes based on what I had in the house. I can't say whether they are as good as the original, as I've never made the originals. In particular, I had no brown rice syrup & only about 1/2 cup of honey, so I did a mixture of applesauce, pb & honey for the "glue" of the bar.

Protein Bars
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups brown rice crispies
8 Tbsp flax seed meal
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup peanuts
1 cup almonds, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds, hulled
2/3 cup coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking pan with the coconut oil. If you like thick power bars, opt for an 8 by 8-inch pan; for thinner bars, use a 9 by 13-inch pan.

On a rimmed baking sheet toast the almonds, pistachios, peanuts and coconut for about 7 minutes, or until the coconut is deeply golden. Toss once or twice along the way. Mix the oats, toasted nuts, coconut, and the cereal, together in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine the honey, peanut butter, applesauce, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly as it comes to a boil and thickens just a bit, about 4 minutes. Pour the syrup over the oat mixture and stir until it is evenly incorporated.

Spread into the prepared pan and cool to room temperature before cutting into whatever size bars you desire.

Makes 16 to 24 bars.

I have munched on some of the crumbs & so far they're delicious! They of course do not hold together as well as Heidi's and they seem like they are probably softer, but I really like the nutty flavor. I froze a bunch of them to see if they hold up better, so I'll let you know after this weekend!

Wish you all a weekend of beautiful weather! So far so good over here. :)

Mexican Monkey Cake

2008-05-05T23:11:00.000-04:00

Whew...I have been AWFUL at getting here lately. Well, this is one of the first recipes I found when I began reading food blogs...time sure flies, doesn't it? I finally had the occasion (& the bananas) to make it, and I was so excited. It was indeed as delicious as it seemed it would be, and even though only about 1/2 was eaten at the event I brought it to, we've managed to polish off nearly the rest of it in the past few days.

I especially liked the little kick that the chili powder added. I figured if it's going to be called mexican cake, I might as well add some chili!

Farmgirl's Mexican Monkey Cake
adapted from Farmgirl Fare

cinnamon streusel:
8 oz dark chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup oats
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder

cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/4 mashed, ripe bananas (as ripe as they get)
2 Tbsp vanilla yogurt
1 Tbsp buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8x2" baking pan. In a small bowl, combine chocolate, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar & egg with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add bananas, yogurt and milk & mix well. On low speed, beat in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt & remaining 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder until just blended.

Spread slightly more than 1/2 of the batter in the pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the cinnamon streusel. Carefully spread the remaining batter over the streusel and then top with the rest of the streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

According to the original directions, the cake freezes well, but I wouldn't know since we ate it so quickly! This is definitely worth repeating, and I'm already looking forward to making it again! It was also so easy & looked beautiful. I made it in the morning before our "end of the semester" party & we were eating it by 11:30. If you are looking for something new to make, definitely try this one!

Peanut Butter & Banana Scones

2008-04-28T10:12:00.001-04:00

Ever since I started making scones, I haven't been able to stop. It's like an addiction. I can't even eat scones from coffee shops anymore. I just can't imagine that they are as good as the ones I make in my kitchen, plus I can customize the flavors (& generally cut out about 1/2 the fat).

My latest variation was a desperate attempt to use up some of the bananas rapidly "ripening" on my kitchen table. I thought about throwing in some walnuts to make a delicious banana bread scone, and also contemplated adding some nutella since I'd just finally bought some (but if I don't open the jar, I can't eat it all in one sitting!), but finally decided that the jar of cinnamon peanut butter (that I didn't like on its own...yuck, too sweet) would be a perfect addition.

They turned out really well, though not very sweet (just like all my scones) & the peanut butter taste was subtle. I'll mention here that I decided to go back & make a version with more pb, but the scone ended up a lot flatter & didn't have a much stronger pb taste. The recipe below is the first recipe I tried, and it produced some flaky delicious scones.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup soy flour
3/4 cup oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup peanut butter*
1 medium banana, ripe
1/4 cup butter, unsalted
1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix together flours, oatmeal, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, & cinnamon. Add butter to mixture & blend in using a fork or a pastry blender until coarse crumbles appear. Add bananas. In a separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, peanut butter, vanilla & egg. Using a spatula, integrate dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just blended. The dough shouldn't be too sticky, so if the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl you can add a bit more flour.

On a floured surface, take half of the dough & form a circle, as if you were making an extremely thick pizza crust. Use a large knife (I used a floured pizza cutter!) to divide the circle into 6 pieces. Repeat with the other half of the dough, then place the sections onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. You can easily freeze these (I wrap them in aluminum foil & then put them in a ziploc freezer bag), or store them in a container for a few days.

*The pb I used was sweetened, so if yours is not, you might prefer to add 1/4 cup of sugar.

French Toast for a cause

2008-04-19T17:51:00.000-04:00

I'm not a big fan of cancer. In fact, one might say that cancer is my arch enemy...someone lurking around corners, causing me to glance back in fear. I didn't have much experience with cancer for the majority of my life, and for that I'm grateful. But when cancer hit, it hit hard. 2 years, 3 deaths. Less than 2 years really. January, December, and again in May. Aunt, uncle, grandmother. My grandmother was the first one sick, actually, and we didn't expect her to survive 2 of her children, but she did. And of course she lived over 80 years, and we knew that she wouldn't last forever...but watching her suffer for so long was practically unbearable. She lived with our family, and I was away from home, in college & then grad school, so I never really knew which of my visits home would be my last moment spent with her. Cancer is a fuck of a disease...your body just deteriorates, and it gets so painful that they put you on crazy drugs that make you act like you're 5 again...or at least that's what they did for my grandmother. Honestly, some days she acted just like a kid...clapping her hands in excitement, saying silly things that made no sense. It was good to see her "happy" but I knew it wasn't the amazing, educated woman that I'd known for so long. Watching her slowly waste away was hard, but I'm so grateful for the moments that I spent with her, the stolen seconds that we shared.

My aunt & uncle were much more unexpected. My mom called me one day to tell me my aunt was in the hospital, so they flew to Florida, and when I spoke to them the next day, she had died. I guess she had been sick for some time, but they kept it from us...whether she didn't want us to see her suffer or she was ashamed, I don't know. Shortly thereafter we found out my uncle had cancer, and that it was so far that he wouldn't be able to beat it. He died Christmas eve. And for his poor family, Christmas will never be the same again.

I know that I've shared some really personal & emotional experiences with people who barely know me at all, but isn't that the point? To understand that cancer is painful & heartbreaking for those going through it, as well as those who share the experience? And, most of all, to know that there are people who go through it with us, holding our hand & screaming at the world for being so stupid sometimes!

And so, I reach out my hand to everyone, since honestly there are so few people without have experiences to share. I'm submitting this recipe to Livestrong with A Taste of Yellow as my first time blog event (*grin*). I couldn't let this one pass without participating (ok, I almost did let it pass...but I came through)! I thank Barbara for this event, and I hope that she doesn't mind that this recipe is not much of a recipe at all...of course everyone can make french toast! But it's personal & has meaning, and I hope everyone can enjoy it with me.

*Introductory note: My dad's side of the family seems to be plagued with colon cancer (& remember, it's important to get a colonoscopy regularly! I know, it's not dinner time conversation, but catch it early & we can do something about it!) so I wanted to make something that's high in fiber for this event. We know whole grains are important, but make sure to find bread that has a high fiber content, as apparently not all whole grains provide the same level of fiber. My bread had flax seed, which is another step toward healthy eating. I also incorporated berries, which evidently are cancer fighting too. I swear I read in a magazine once that research had shown cinnamon to be helpful in the prevention of cancer, so I included cinnamon as well.*

High-Fiber French Toast

4 slices high-fiber bread
4 eggs
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries*
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp cinnamon

Beat eggs in a wide bowl, & place one piece of bread in the egg mixture, coating both sides. Let the bread sit in the bowl while you prepare the pan. Heat non-stick pan over medium heat & spray pan with cooking spray.

Meanwhile, place strawberries, blueberries*, water & sugar in small pot on medium-low heat. Make sure to stir often. When the liquid has thickened & the mixture is warm, remove from heat.

Place egg-ed slice of bread into non-stick pan, flipping after about a minute to cook both sides evenly. Repeat with other slices of bread.

Stack pieces of bread on a plate, top with fruit compote & some extra cinnamon, and serve. Of course, it's best served while still warm.

*I used dried blueberries, which worked fine, but if you use fresh or frozen blueberries, you might not need as much water.

My doctor tells me I need to eat 50 grams of fiber a day...50 grams?! Is that even possible? Do I really have to spend the rest of my life worrying that I'm not getting 50 grams of fiber a day? There's so many "cancer-curing" foods out there...it makes us feel like if we eat enough of them, we can be sure that cancer doesn't attack our bodies. It weighs on our mind...am I eating enough of the right foods...am I going to get cancer if I don't eat enough blueberries? If I'm not a fan of flax seed? It gets to a point that we probably need to take a step back & just try to be healthy. Of course, incorporating "cancer-fighting" foods into our daily diet will give us one more chance to kick cancer's ass, but making yourself crazy over it can't be good for your body either. So try to be healthy, remember to make those annual treks to the doctor, and try to remain strong...for our families, friends, and ourselves. Live strong.

hasta manana

2008-04-13T23:33:00.012-04:00

Updated 4/16 to include pictures of the food! Also, Tim did well & we looked at new apartments today! I'm very happy. :)

I can't wait for tomorrow. I've been waiting for tomorrow for weeks...months even! Tomorrow is the day I find out for sure if I will be getting out of this god-forsaken place...the day I can finally relax and spend time with my not-driving-me-crazy-anymore Tim...the day he can relax & stop being the most ungodly frustrating human being on the face of this earth (exaggerate much, Sarah? sorry babe! i love you even when you're stressed out of your gourd)...the day when I can start making plans. At least, we hope.

In the meantime (as I haven't spent much time with tv, music, sleep or fun...I gather those are all rather distracting), this weekend has been a whirlwind in the kitchen. In fact, I'm rather unsure that I've spent any time NOT in the kitchen. As I write, I'm sitting beside a pizzelle maker, occasionally pausing to remove pizzelles & drop more batter onto the iron. Not only have I spent the last oh, I don't know, 12 hours making cookies (for Tim to bring to his presentation tomorrow), but I've also managed to squeeze in:

Coconut macaroon pancakes

(for which I didn't have coconut milk, so I sub'd skim milk & didn't have eggs, so I sub'd egg whites...still delicious!)

Failed Kozy Shack rice pudding experiment
(which was FAR too sweet, and I couldn't get over the flour as a thickener (ok, partly my fault since I didn't have any all-purpose flour, used white whole wheat...ewwy uncooked) with the weird texture the flour provided...still haven't eaten much of it. I occasionally take it out of the fridge & taste it, but then I kind of shudder & put it back.)

More white chocolate biscotti
(a new recipe, very much the texture like you'd get at a real coffee shop, which was cool. So good dipped in coffee. Mine personally didn't have much flavor, but I think that's because the white chocolate chips obviously didn't survive very well in all that heat. I made a bunch of changes to this recipe, so hopefully I'll update this with my recipe, but I appear to have lost the paper right now...)

Buckwheat galettes
(using entirely buckwheat flour...I didn't have any all-purpose. Also using 2% milk. I ran into some lumps in the batter...if anyone has any advice on how not to get those? Other than that, delicious & easy! I love crepes, but have never been to France, so I've only ever had them in the States & Montreal...& at home! We ate them with eggs & cheese, as well as with strawberries & whipped cream.)

Lucky muffins
(I tried incorporating some of the actual cereal into the cupcake...what's the use in getting rid of the yummy part of the cereal...it's the rest of the cereal that's hard to use up! It was mildly successful. I wasn't wild about them but Tim liked them, and we finally got rid of that box of Lucky Charms that's been sitting in the cupboard for months.)

Successful & delicious rice pudding
(In two parts: I wanted to try a recipe starting with cooked rice, but didn't actually have any cooked rice, so I "cooked rice" by simmering 2 cups skim milk & 1 cup basmati rice in a covered pot until the milk was absorbed. Then I halved the rice, made attempt #1 with the first 1/2, and put the other half in the fridge overnight. The next day, I took the other 1/2 out of the fridge, put the cold (2 cups) cooked rice in a pot with 3 cups 2% milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 cup sugar & 1 tsp cinnamon. I let it simmer for about an hour, stirring frequently, until most of the milk was absorbed. Then into the fridge it went again, and it's still creamy & thick & lovely! And not flour-y at all, thank goodness. I roughly followed this recipe, once I had cooked the rice.)

I also attempted scalloped potatoes, but those didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. Tim liked 'em, but I wasn't satisfied.

As for the cookies, I made:

Chocolate Chunk & Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
(I'd been dying to try these. I halved the recipe, & used 1/2 light brown sugar & 1/2 dark brown sugar. I also used 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour & 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (in the halved version). Before adding the cherries & chocolate I split the batter, adding the cherries & chocolate to 1/2 the batter, and just adding raisins, 1/4 tsp cloves & 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the other half (oatmeal raisin cookies). Both halves were delicious. Great texture & the chocolate cherry ones had great flavor. Actually, I've decided to keep those ones...they're too good to share with Tim's department. :)

Patricia's Chocolate Sugar Cookies
(Didn't change a thing! These are really delicious. Mine looked darker than the ones in her pictures, but that might have been my camera or I added slightly more cocoa or something weird. Mmmm...I'm not usually big on sugar cookies, but add some chocolate in there & I'll be pushing my way to the front of the line!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies
(These I wasn't totally satisfied with, but I blame that on the fact that I left out the peanut butter...I know, I'm crazy...that's the best part...but this time I just wanted a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, so I used 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 egg yolk & 1/2 cup flour instead. Everything else I kept the same (except...uh...clears throat...I used leftover "Santa" Reeses' peanut butter cups...don't yell! I know, we never eat candy! We had so much Christmas candy! I promise, it was still edible!) and I liked the texture of these a lot better.)

And that brings me back to pizzelles. I added some chopped hazelnuts to this batch...yum!

I'm hoping to add some pictures soon...right now it's dark & late so I'm not going to photograph yet. Wish Tim luck tomorrow! Here's hoping that my baking will soften them up a bit. :) Can't ask too many tough questions when eating delicious treats, right?

Another day, another deluge.

2008-04-10T15:11:00.005-04:00

Today is one of those days where I could really just crawl back under the covers & curl up in the warmth of the blankets. The flood warnings continue (oh, wait, when was the last time there wasn't a flood warning here) and the roads are puddled with water, yet again. To add to the excitement, there's snow in the forecast for the weekend. Needless to say, I do not want to leave the house again in 30 minutes, especially to run around with children (especially when their parents are home...so much more stressful with mom looking over your shoulder...PLUS the kids always go running to their mom (of course) when they want something or when something goes wrong...it's just not a fun time) and of course we'll be trapped in the house the entire time. AND I just got home from babysitting for 6 hours, and of course I got an email this morning saying "Oh, I forgot to tell you, E will be home from school today, so you'll be watching her today too...I hope that's ok." which of course IS ok but I would have liked some more notice, especially since I was still feeling a bit fuzzy from the migraine that sent me to bed at 8 last night. 3 kids under 3? Always a good time!

And if you haven't stopped reading despite all of my horrid whining yet, your reward is this simple message (accompanied by a recipe): Days like these require a strong, piping hot cup of coffee and a plate of perfect biscotti.

This recipe is the perfect simple pleasure for an awful crawl-under-the-covers sort of day.

I love making biscotti, but it takes a little time at home monitoring the oven. Plus there's the cooling and slicing. It's definitely not complicated, but it is time consuming, so it's best to make them when you have some free time & enjoy them slowly. I originally found the recipe at Cookie Madness, and since I didn't have cinnamon or butterscotch chips, I adapted it using ingredients I had on hand. I started with a bag of peanut butter chips I needed to use up, then decided to add white chocolate chips, which I knew would go well with the brown sugar & vanilla (becoming a bit of a butterscotch flavor without being too strong). The amount of chips I used ended up being too much (I couldn't fit them all in the log!) so I revised the recipe below accordingly. I really liked the combination of white chocolate & brown sugar...I think omitting the pb chips & adding more white chocolate might give the biscotti a more simple but richer flavor. I also used white whole wheat flour, because it seems I no longer keep all-purpose in the house, & it worked well.

Small Batch Peanut Butter & Butterscotch Biscotti
adapted from Cookie Madness

1 large egg
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup peanut butter chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl, using an electric mixer or wire whisk, beat the egg and sugar until fluffy and light Add the vanilla, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and beat well. Stir in flour. When flour is incorporated, stir in white chocolate & peanut butter chips.

Transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment and shape into a log about 7 inches by 2 ½ inches. Smooth the top and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes or until it’s cool enough to handle.

Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees F.

Cut the logs crosswise on the diagonal into 1/2-inch thick to 3/4 inch thick slices. Stand the biscotti on the cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

This makes about 16 biscotti.

Note:
I usually wet my hands with cold water before shaping the loaf, because this makes it easier to shape. This dough wasn't too sticky, but if you run into any trouble, be sure to try wetting your hands with cold water.

They are a very crunchy cookie, so be sure to dunk them into coffee or tea. Personally, I;ll eat them dry even though I practically break my teeth when I do! I think the flavors are phenomenal both dunked in coffee or alone. Enjoy!

Pizzelles

2008-04-06T21:10:00.004-04:00

Last weekend I finally broke out the pizzelle maker my mama bought me for Christmas. Yes, that's the one thing I asked for this year! I've been making pizzelles with my mom for as long as I can remember...which is to say, at least when I was little, my mom made them & I ate them! The past few years whenever I've been home for the holidays I've managed to make a batch with my mom's super old pizzelle maker that seems to make the thinnest cookies. I've even managed to bring pizzelles back on a plane (in a coffee can!) to Indiana. Yes, I <3 them.

Pizzelles

ingredients:
6 eggs
3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 tsp anise seeds

instructions:
Preheat pizzelle iron. Beat eggs, adding sugar gradually. Beat until smooth. Add cooled melted margarine & vanilla. Sift flour & baking powder, add to egg mixture. Stir in the anise seeds. Dough will be soft enough to be dropped from spoon. Place about a tablespoon onto each pizzelle pattern on the iron.

I was just telling my mom that at first I was disappointed to make pizzelles on the beautiful new iron because I had this crazy feeling that they wouldn't be ANYWHERE near as delicious as my mommy's. Turns out, these new & improved (and less than 30 year old) pizzelle irons are actually very nice. Even heat & consistent. Goodness they are delicious. And they're so easy to make, with tons of cookies in less than 1/2 an hour.

It's kind of sad to post this recipe because I know that only those of you with pizzelle makers can really join in, but since it's one of my favorite cookies I didn't want neglect the post. And if you've never had a pizzelle, you should definitely try one the next time you have a chance...they're really kind of unique.

Mmmmmm...enchiladas!

2008-04-02T21:53:00.003-04:00

This recipe is a throwback to my younger years (haha). I hadn't even thought of this recipe until one of my old roommates sent me a message reminding me of when I used to make it in college...it seems like it's the only recipe I can remember making. And it sure was delicious!

I got it from one of my first veggie cookbooks...you know, when you first become vegetarian & every birthday, Christmas, etc, you get a pile of vegetarian cookbooks. Ooooooh, what a unique idea! A vegetarian cookbook! No one has ever bought me one of those before!

So anyway, this was a pretty good cookbook. It's a fairly health-minded cookbook (being vegetarian & all, cuz we're such healthy eaters) so obviously these enchiladas are nothing like authentic enchiladas (which I LOVE). But they are delicious in their own right. And I mean, very delicious.

I've always made it with ricotta cheese, but this time I only had 1/2 cup ricotta left, & I didn't want to buy more, so I used 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (don't tell Tim!), and I processed it in a food processor to remove the lumps (to conceal the evidence that there was cottage cheese in the recipe).

Pinto Bean Enchiladas

15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed & drained
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 cup shredded low-fat Cheddar cheese, divided
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chunky salsa
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
6 whole wheat flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine beans, ricotta & cottage cheese, chili powder, & 3/4 cup cheddar cheese. Set aside.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add garlic, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes, or until tender. Stir in the salsa & tomato paste; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low, simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until the sauce thickens slightly. Stir in the vinegar.

Briefly dip one side of tortilla into the sauce to coat, then place about 1/4 cup of the bean filling on each tortilla; roll to enclose filling. Place, seam side down, in prepared baking dish.

Does anyone have any tips on photographing dinner? I like to have pictures of some of the steps during the process, but it always seems like I end up showing steps that would make you not want to actually eat the final product... I partially blame the lack of light (not only is it never sunny out when I'm making dinner, but our kitchen has no windows, and is blocked off from the rooms which have windows) but I'm sure there's some other things I could do to improve my dinner picture taking skills!

Heidi's Brown Bread

2008-03-30T18:27:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post (for Alex!) to mention that I made this:

Heidi's "Irish Mum's Brown Bread"

also for St. Patrick's Day. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures but her picture is probably much nicer anyway! :) It is SUPER easy & really hearty bread, so you should definitely try it sometime you are in the mood for a nice substantial bread.

I think I probably used 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt & 1 1/4 cups skim milk because I doubt I had buttermilk on hand, but other than that I followed the recipe exactly! With so few ingredients, there's not really much room for playing with the recipe.

Enjoy!

Tim's Sacred Geometry

2008-03-27T13:05:00.006-04:00

Does anyone watch Rob & Big? No? I thought that might be the case. We, on the other hand, watch it somewhat religiously. (If you haven't seen it, you have to catch the one where they buy a net gun, it's a complete winner!)

Ever since we saw an episode where Rob & Big went to see a spiritual leader to find out how to improve Rob's skateboarding (I should probably mention here that Tim skateboards, and thus the show is particularly entertaining for him), Tim has been talking about sacred geometry (also known as sacred "g"). Basically, they pasted this geometric pattern (sacred g) onto the bottom of the skateboard for luck. And indeed, it somehow improved his "run".

When Tim saw the cinnamon buns upside-down (why were they upside-down you ask? that's how they came out of the pan of course!), looking all perfect and similar, he asked "Honey, did you make me sacred geometry?" which I thought was very cute, and it stuck.

So I present to you, my sacred geometry.

Cinnamon Rolls
adapted from Bon Apetit, March 2008

1/2 cup skim milk
1.5 Tbsps unsalted butter
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp rapid-rise yeast
1/2 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

filling
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp light spreadable butter

glaze
2 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

For dough:
Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, 30 to 45 seconds. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 21/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball.

Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

For filling:
Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.

Punch down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15x11-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter. Starting at 1 long side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, cut dough crosswise with thin sharp knife into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide).

Spray two 9-inch square glass baking dishes with nonstick spray. Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up.

For glaze:
Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes about 10 cinnamon buns, at least mine did.

Also, Tim and I just discussed how much of a guilty pleasure these are, and I realized...the way I made them, they probably aren't that bad for you (I mean, besides all the sugar...). Since I used skim milk & some whole wheat flour, (plus I actually used light spreadable butter for the filling, which worked out nicely), they probably aren't overwhelmingly unhealthy. Of course, they should still be saved for a once in a while indulgence, but you shouldn't feel guilty eating 3 (or 4, or 5). ;) Oh, and I ate them without the glaze. Yes, I know, I'm weird!

*footnote: I went crazy on these pictures because it was actually SUNNY out when I took them! Wow, Sarah, you baked during daylight? Yes, I know, I was out of control!*

Irish Soda Bread: 2x the fun

2008-03-24T00:14:00.003-04:00

Ugh. What an awful few weeks. They have been just overwhelmingly sad, almost unbearable. I never thought I'd have to watch the people I love suffer so deeply. It's still so hard to believe, for so many people, and I don't know that the sadness will fade easily.

And so, this post is dedicated to Mark, who I barely knew but I loved, and who I regret I will never be able to know like Tim did. We celebrated St. Patty's Day in honor of him (well, hell, I did anyway) & I thought of him as the cabbage cooked because Tim told me that he's awful at making cabbage (since he hates it) & the only time he's ever made cabbage well was once when he cooked St. Patty's dinner for Mark, who told him that it was cooked just as he liked it. :)

And I know that Irish Soda Bread is the last thing on anyone's mind right now, but I made it before all the crap, and I've been wanting to post about it (and I haven't really baked/cooked in over a week...ugh, I'm so tired of take-out). I was originally going to post 3 recipes, but I seem to have lost the 3rd, so you'll get the first two I tried instead.

The first is much more like a cake (and therefore, delicious) but the second is much more like what I think of when I think of soda bread. I still think a mix of the two recipes might result in my perfect idea of soda bread (the 3rd recipe was my first attempt at integrating the recipes) but maybe a completely separate 3rd recipe would be best.

Irish Soda Bread (cake form)
from Whole Grain Baking

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup raisins, plumped
1 Tbsp milk, for glaze

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8-inch round pan.

Beat together the butter & sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Add the eggs and beat on high speed until the mixture is thick & light colored, about 2 min. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda & salt, then 1 cup of the whole wheat flour. Gently beat in half of the buttermilk then another cup of the flour. Add the remaining buttermilk and the all-purpose flour, mixing until smooth. Stir in the raisins.

Turn the dough into the prepared pan. Drizzle the milk over it & sprinkle with sugar.

Irish Soda Bread (bread form)
from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces
1 egg white
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare a 9-inch round baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flours, salt, baking osda & baking powder. Thoroughtly mix in the brown sugar. Cut the butter pieces into the flour until the mixture is crumbly and resembles coarse meal.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg white until frothy. Add the buttermilk & raisins. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring just until the dough is evenly moistened, the dough will be very soft & VERY sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and with floured hands, gently knead for just 30-45 seconds.

Mound the dough into a dome about 9 inches across in the baking pan. Cut an "X" in the top of the loaf. Bake for 45 min, or until firm to the touch & golden brown.

*You know, I might have made some modifications to these recipes (in fact, I'm pretty sure I did) but I can't remember at this point. I'll edit the recipe if I remember. I know instead of buttermilk I used about 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt, & the rest milk.*

I know I don't really have any regular readers out there, but if anyone's noticed my absence, thanks for bearing with me. I haven't been able to focus worth a damn. And it hasn't helped that in between I've been sicker than I can remember. (My "Spring Break" was spent shaking with fever while my mom took care of me in the middle of the night (thanks Mom!) & missing my flight back to Indiana...I'm so glad I was home in Jersey with my family, but it sure wasn't my favorite "vacation" ever!) I even made these recipes before St. Patrick's Day, thinking for once I'd actually post before the holiday, but life got in the way!

So a happy belated St. Patrick's Day, and here's hoping that next year will bear happier times than this one.

* Love, Sarah *

PB Dulce de Leche & Chocolate Bread Pudding

2008-03-06T22:40:00.002-05:00

FINALLY! Yes, I know, it's taken me forever to get to this recipe. But I'm finally using what Blake Makes. If you haven't already heard, read a little about it here.

First I have to tell you a little secret...I'd never had bread pudding. At least I don't think I ever had. I've been living my life thinking I don't like it. You see, I hate stuffing. Ew, it's one of my most repulsive foods. Soggy, wet bread? No thanks. So when it came to bread pudding, I decided early on that it was akin to stuffing, and therefore repulsive.

But lately I've been seeing all kinds of bread pudding recipes. And they all looked SO amazing. I've been dying to experiment, but I've still been very reluctant. Then came Blake's peanut butter dulce de leche (PBDDL), and I was determined to try the heavenly dulce de leche & chocolate bread pudding recipe in Bon Apetit.

Yet something was holding me back. I mean, what if this is the only container of PBDDL that I ever receive? How would I live with the disappointment if I hated the bread pudding?

Finally, I bit the bullet. Every step of the recipe seemed great. But I was anxious for the final product...

Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Just like every other person in the world, I now love bread pudding. I made a few changes to the recipe, of course using peanut butter dulce de leche instead of regular, and adding a banana to the custard. Also, I used the bread I had around, which turned out to be a slice of whole grain bread & a slice of "cinnamon chip" bread. I liked the addition of the cinnamon, so if you use regular white bread, you might want to add a little cinnamon to the recipe.

And I'll admit, I only have 1/2 a bowl of the bread pudding left. :)

Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche & Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding
adapted from Bon Apetit, March 2008

2 slices cinnamon swirl bread, crusts cut off & cut into 1/2 in cubes
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup PBDDL
1 medium banana, mashed & very ripe
1 large egg
1/2 large egg yolk
1/2 tbsp kahlua
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 oz dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place bread in 4 cup glass baking dish. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon melted butter; toss. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Bake until bread begins to color, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Cool. Return bread to glass baking dish.

Stir whipping cream and 1/4 cup peanut butter dulce de leche in small saucepan over medium heat until blended and bubbling. Remove from heat. Whisk eggs and yolks in large bowl. Add mashed banana, kahlua, vanilla, and salt; gradually whisk in warm dulce de leche mixture. Stir in bread cubes. Let soak 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mix chocolate chunks into custard mixture. Return mixture to glass baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoons sugar. Bake pudding until puffed and set in center, about 35 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm, passing more dulce de leche topping alongside.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the actual PBDDL. It was yummy...much more peanut buttery than I expected it to be. Check out Blake Makes & keep an eye out for PBDDL so you can make your very own bread pudding! :)

Brown Bag "Cookies"

2008-03-03T22:11:00.003-05:00

Oh. My. Goodness. These were SO good! I love peanut butter, and I've probably had peanut butter on wheat bread (minus the jelly) 4 days a week for the past year. So it only follows that these would be amazing to me. I spent weeks dreaming about making them. :) Now that I finally have, I can tell you it's definitely worth it! And it's not too difficult a recipe either.

Brown Bag Cookies
adapted from Cookie Baker Lynn
original recipe found here

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 extra-large egg, at room temp
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cups blackberry jam (mine was Trader Joe's brand)
1/2 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped (accidentally used unsalted)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 9-inch square baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until well combined.

Sift together into a small bowl the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread two thirds of the dough in the prepared pan, using a knife to spread it evenly. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; the dough will spread when it bakes. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts (I chopped them using a food processor) and bake about 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into 16 squares.

The biggest change I made was obviously using the white whole wheat flour. I was a little worried that the taste would be too strong (the batter tasted surprisingly wheat-y) but once baked you couldn't even tell I'd used wheat flour. Also, I added a little cinnamon because I love cinnamon & pb together...my favorite combo.

One comment about the instructions...I think because I used the wheat flour, my batter was a little thicker, and I kind of had to spread the second layer of batter on top of the jam. It definitely wouldn't have flattened out on its own for me like it says in the original recipe. But it wasn't difficult to just spread it out instead.

Best of all, these get better with time...I think the jam & the peanut butter merge & get even softer as they sit. I really really loved them the second day. And of course, they were also loved by all (even the first day). :) Definitely a winning recipe!

Pound Cake Poppers

2008-02-28T19:30:00.001-05:00

Ok, here's those lime pound cake poppers you've been hearing about.

Oh, wait, no one's been talking about these...just me! I made these for a presentation I gave on Monday (to butter up the audience before presenting...haha...pound cake...butter...get it?) & I think they were well-received. They were even more loved than the other dessert I brought (which I personally liked better).

This recipe was modified from Chow...I didn't really want to make a loaf cake so I decided to put the batter in a mini muffin pan, and I really liked how they turned out! I decided not to add the glaze (actually, that's a lie, I made the glaze, put it on a few of them, and decided I liked them without the glaze better) because they tasted delicious right out of the oven.

The only problem with these is that they are so little, you can't stop eating them! Check out the original recipe for the lime glaze if you're interested...Tim really liked the glaze, I just thought it was unnecessary.

The major changes I made were to half the recipe & then quadruple the lime zest. Mmmmm...I love the taste of lime in baked goods! Reminds me of when I made Patricia's lime sugar cookies. :)

Lime Pound Cake Poppers
adapted from CHOW

Ingredients:

scant 1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp salt
1 stick (4 oz) butter, room temp
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs & 1 egg white, room temp
finely grated zest of 2 medium limes (abt 2 packed tbsps)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter & lightly flour a mini muffin pan; set aside.

In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder & salt.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar & beat until light & fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly in between.

Add flour in two phases, mixing in between each addition until just combined. With rubber spatula, fold in lime zest. Pour batter into mini muffin tin and put into oven.

Bake until muffins rise & sides are golden brown When inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 10-15 minutes, the muffins are ready.

Makes about 30 mini muffins.

Lentils, two ways

2008-02-26T20:41:00.003-05:00

So we bought a slow cooker. A month ago. Yes, we had been talking about it since before Christmas. At first it didn't seem to make a lot of sense as we wouldn't be cooking meat in it (isn't that what slow cookers are for?) but once we found some vegetarian slow cooker cookbooks, we were determined. Chilis, soups (ok, I don't remember any more examples of cool things we wanted to make).

And we didn't even have to DO ANYTHING! It would just cook. On its own.

So, I think we made something in it once, right after we bought it. Or maybe we didn't. Regardless, it hasn't gotten all that much use. It's just hanging out in our tiny kitchen. Yeeeeaaaaaah. GREAT idea Sarah.

The other afternoon I got the amazing thought to finally start using this puppy. Of course, it was 4 pm, and the recipe I had chosen took 8 hours to make. I thought somehow it would be ok. Needless to say, we didn't have that for dinner that night...

But the next night we put these "sloppy lentils" that I had decided to make back into the slow cooker for a few more hours. I had found this recipe for a "veggie version" of sloppy joe's and was intrigued. Yes, I knew it wouldn't really taste like a big pot of meaty sloppy joe's, but I thought it might be delicious in its own right. And it turned out to be quite yummy!

I added some cornstarch because...well, because I did. I thought it might help thicken it up, and it probably did, but I don't really know for sure.

When the lentils got to the right consistency (or what I thought was the right consistency), we got out our rolls & sprinkled some shredded "Italian" (read Parmesan, mozzarella) cheese onto the top section of the buns & put them in the toaster oven to melt the cheese. Then we piled the lentils onto the bun, and there they were, all sloppy!

Sloppy Lentils
Adapted from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker

1 small green bell pepper, seeded & diced
1 1/2 cups dried red lentils, picked over & rinsed
14 oz diced tomatoes (1 can)
1 shredded carrot
3 cups water
1 Tbsp apple juice concentrate
1 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
black pepper
1 Tbsp cornstarch

rolls of your choice (our sesame seed rolls went really well with the lentils!)
shredded Italian cheeses

Add veggies, lentils, water, apple juice concentrate, sugar, & spices to the slow cooker & cook (on low according to the cookbook, but I cooked on high...I think maybe because of the kind of lentils I used) for 8 hours. When there is only about an hour left (or when a lot of the liquid has been absorbed), add the cornstarch & stir well.

I admit, I had my doubts about this recipe as it was cooking. I tasted it a few times as I went, and not being satisfied with the taste, I just started throwing spices in there. Feel free to add as much salt/pepper/chili powder as you see fit. Overall, I was really pleased with this recipe. It was very satisfying!

Of course, the next night we had quite a bit leftover, and it just didn't sound all that appealing the second night in a row. So I decided I was going to make lentil soup with the rest (can't really give you an exact amount that was leftover...) & basically threw the sloppy lentils in with some veggie broth and more cumin. While it didn't look so beautiful, it tasted pretty good!

Lentil Soup:

Sloppy Lentils
Vegetable Broth
Cumin

Place about 1/2 of the sloppy lentils into a blender/food processor with cumin (to taste) & vegetable broth (to desired consistency). Stir together the processed lentils & unprocessed lentils in a pot & heat just until warm. Voila. Dinner, two nights!

Serve with bread, or if you're us, wheat thins.

:)

Carrot Cake

2008-02-22T22:56:00.004-05:00

I came home today miserable, broken down, and determined to forget all about my day (and basically my life). What is that you're talking about? I don't have an adviser. Graduate student, what? Thesis, huh? Masters defense in a week...? I don't know what you're talking about, you must be referring to someone else. I just bake. And cook. And babysit.

So I headed to the supermarket, where I bought everything I needed...except lentils. Yes, that was the basis for the dinner I was planning on making. I had somehow convinced myself that there was a bag of lentils in the cabinet, but of course there wasn't. Luckily, this just allowed me to make a quick trip to the little (only) natural foods store in our town.

I got home at 4 (turned on the nice loud "musica urbana" station on the tv (bonus points if you can name 3 artists who would be played on this channel...and please forgive my taste in music), I'm sure my neighbors love me), and in an hour I managed to do 2 loads of laundry, get dinner ready, make rice pudding, clean my bedroom, wash dishes & eat soup. Yes, I was convinced I could forget.

While I did not necessarily succeed in completely letting go, I did make a yummy carrot cake instead. And actually, I did a pretty good job of not thinking too hard about that stupid email & its consequences all night. Oh, and I also succeeded in eating more sugar than I have in months.

Without further ado, the fruits of my labor:

*The original recipe used a bundt pan...I of course didn't, because I don't own one. Also, sometimes I drain the carrots, but the author of the recipe didn't, so I didn't either, and the amount of moisture was perfect. I soaked the raisins in hot water for about 10 minutes before I added them to the recipe, and I also tossed them with flour so they wouldn't add too much additional moisture to the recipe.*

Carrot Cake
adapted from Cookie Madness
changes noted in recipe, original recipe found here.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup applesauce
1 heaping packed cup shredded carrot
1 cup plumped raisins
1/3 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x9 inch metal pan. Sprinkle with some flour.

In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg.

In a second bowl, stir together eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Add oil mixture to flour mixture and stir with a mixing spoon until blended.

Add applesauce and stir just until mixed, then stir in carrots, raisins and coconut. Pour mixture into pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then flip from pan. In the meantime, make the icing (below) & let the cake cool completely. When cake is cooled, spread icing onto cake.

Cream Cheese Icing
(I just concocted this as I went)

8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 generous cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp butter, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract

Throw all ingredients into small bowl & beat with an electric mixer. (Ok, maybe you're supposed to cream the butter & cream cheese first, which I sort of did, but basically the throwing it all into a bowl & mixing it worked for me!)

Honestly, I thought this would be good, but it was AMAZING. I really liked it...if you've never made a carrot cake before, now's the time! And I HATE carrots, so you should believe me. :)

Oh, I almost forgot...with the extra batter from the cake (I probably could have fit it all in the pan, but I had other plans for that batter) I made some carrot cake "cookies". Basically, I just added flour to the batter until I felt like they were cookie texture, then I put the batter in the fridge for 1/2 hour. There is a recipe for carrot cake cookies on Epicurious here but I didn't really use that recipe, so I can't vouch for how good it is. The reviews are really positive.

Ok, I'm going a little tangential here. Anyway, so I added some flour to the batter, put it in the fridge, spooned scoops of it onto the cookie sheet, baked them at 375 degrees F for about 10 minutes, and let them cool. Then I creamed together the extra icing & some vanilla ice cream, sandwiched 2 of the cookies with the icing ice cream, and put them in the freezer for a few hours. Possibly even more delicious than the carrot cake! No, wait, it's a tie.

Another Granola Recipe

2008-02-19T12:21:00.001-05:00

And by "another", I don't mean that I've written one before, I just mean that there are so many different recipes out there! It's really kinda impossible to follow a recipe when it comes to granola. There are so many ingredients to choose from, and so many possibilities. So I'm offering here, just another possibility. :) Change the variables to make one that pleases you most!

Yummy Granola
adapted from here & here & here

dry ingredients:
2.5 cups oats
1/3 cup flax seed meal
1/2 cup coconut
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

wet ingredients:
1/3 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

dried fruit:
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup cherries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. In a (very) large bowl, stir dry ingredients until well distributed. Add wet ingredients & blend until the mixture is coated evenly. Spread mixture into a cookie pan that has sides and place in oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.

I like my granola rather crispy, but if you prefer yours not so crunchy, make sure to check on it earlier & make sure that it's not getting too brown for you. It will harden out of the oven, so there's no need to bake it until it looks completely solid.

Potato-y Skins

2008-02-17T21:36:00.000-05:00

Just a note to mention that I made potato skins for dinner...sans bacon of course! They were yummy and easy!

Just wash the potatoes, rub with oil, pierce skin a few times with a fork, and bake in oven as if you were making baked potatoes (~400 degrees F, until fork inserted slides easily into potato). Then, slice potatoes in half, scoop out center (all but the layer closest to the skin) and bake in oven again (I just placed them on the oven rack) for maybe 1/2 an hour, flipping over halfway through. Place the potatoes so that the scooped out part is facing up, and cover with as much cheddar cheese as you like! Broil for another couple minutes.

Not the fanciest dinner ever, but we sure were excited! Tim said even bacon couldn't make them better. :) Oh, and you may want to furnish with sour cream...I can't stand the stuff, so we went without, and they were still delicious!

Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

2008-02-14T02:17:00.000-05:00

So today I was in the drug store (which, sidenote, I ran into SIX PEOPLE I knew today while I was out...was the whole world last minute Valentine's Day shopping?) & I ran into one of the students from the lab where I work. We say hi & I expect her to ask how I'm doing or if I'm enjoying the snow or something of the sort, but instead she bursts out "Oh my god, can you please give me the recipe for those cupcakes you made the other day?" :)

Since it was a close friend's birthday, I wanted to make something special & I decided on brownie cupcakes. I was hoping to have something that was really 1/2 cupcake, 1/2 brownie, instead of brownies in a cupcake liner (mostly because I had a plate of brownies already sitting on the coffee table).

I decided on the recipe from GigiCakes, because of course her recipes are lovely. :) I'll reprint it to make it easier, but here's a link to her site so you can see all of her advice.

I attempted to make her espresso buttercream as well, but I screwed it up big time (possibly due to a faulty candy thermometer, possibly due to a faulty baker) and decided to go with a peanut butter icing instead, which is always a crowd pleaser so it worked out.

Brownie Cupcakes
adapted from Gigi Cakes

-12 Tbsp butter
-12 oz dark chocolate, chopped
-1 cup packed brown sugar
-2/3 cup of sugar
-4 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 cup flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tins with liners.
2. Melt butter and chocolate in a medium microwavable bowl. Microwave on low, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth.
3. Stir in the sugars, then add the eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla, then flour.
4. Divide batter into the liners.
5. Bake cupcakes for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes with moist crumbs attached (similar to a brownie). Cool completely before icing.

Mine made about 24 cupcakes.

Icing adapted from Bon Appetit, January 2003

Peanut Butter Icing

1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp vanilla yogurt
2 tsp instant coffee + 1/2 tbsp water

In a small bowl, mix instant coffee & water until blended. Put powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, & cinnamon in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until mixture is smooth. Add yogurt and coffee mixture slowly, and mix until blended.

The peanut butter icing is reportedly "not too peanut-buttery" according to one of my taste testers. And another said "I didn't know that peanut butter & chocolate could go together in THAT way" (not that I necessarily know what that means, but I assume it wasn't the classic pb & chocolate combo).

Both parts of the recipe were quite easy. And you'll love them!

Baked Ziti

2008-02-11T23:35:00.000-05:00

Let me just take a moment to say...I LOVE baked ziti. It is probably my favorite thing to eat. When I lived alone, I used to make little individual (impostor) baked ziti by placing pasta, sauce & mozzarella in a bowl & microwaving it. But I especially love when I can make real baked ziti to share!

Now this post is going to be a bit hard, because when I make baked ziti, I don't measure anything. But I tried to take note of how much of each ingredient I used, and I will transfer that knowledge onto you.

Baked Ziti

10 oz ricotta cheese (I use part-skim)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan or romano shredded cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning (or basil, oregano & parsley)
1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 egg
1 lb ziti pasta
1 jar tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bring large pot of water to boil, add pasta & boil for about 3 or 4 minutes, not too long, just to get it a little cooked. Drain.

Blend together (using hands, spoon, spatula, whatever you have around) ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella, parmesan, spices, and egg.

Pour about 1/3 of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the glass pan, and add 1/2 of the pasta.

Spoon 1/2 of ricotta mixture on top, being sure to spread it out evenly to cover the pasta.

Pour another 1/3 of the tomato sauce on top, add the rest of the pasta, spreading evenly, and then the final layer of the ricotta mixture.

Pour the final layer of tomato sauce, and spread the rest of the mozzarella generously on top.

Cover with aluminum foil & bake for about about 45 minutes. Remove foil, and continue baking for another 15 minutes, or until cheese is browned around the edges & bubbling.

Now my mama says she loves ricotta cheese so much she could eat it right out of the jar with a spoon, but I'm not such a big fan, so this is the perfect amount for me. If you really like the taste of ricotta, feel free to add more. And of course, I don't use meat, but I'm sure this would be delicious with a meat sauce.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

2008-02-09T14:48:00.000-05:00

I intended to make this today: Banana Chocolate Walnut Bread but instead (due to what I had on hand) came out with these.

And they were delicious!

Chocolate Banana Muffins
adapted from the Wednesday Chef

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cocoa powder
dash salt
dash cinnamon
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp applesauce
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 medium banana, ripe & mashed
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 oz dark chocolate, chopped into pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Oil/spray muffin tins.

Combine flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon in mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat together butter, applesauce and brown sugar. Add eggs until blended, then beat in the mashed banana, yogurt & vanilla extract.

Pour flour mixture into wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Gently stir in the chocolate pieces. Pour mixture into muffin tin.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until muffins are lightly browned & inserted toothpick comes out clean. Makes about 9 muffins.

Ok there is NO SUN in the whole state right now, so there won't be any pretty pictures for a while...4 days of grey and counting!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

2008-02-06T15:01:00.000-05:00

FINALLY!

courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

I'd been SO excited to make these ever since I saw them. I love peanut butter and had been itching to make some cookies. Plus her pictures are so beautiful that any dish would look irresistible!

They were pretty easy to make, even the sugar sprinkling. I used chunky peanut butter, & the batter was a little grainy so it's possible I didn't mix it enough, but they still tasted great so don't worry if you run into that problem. At the end, I put a couple inches of sugar into a bowl, rolled the batter into 9 or 10 little balls, dropped them into the bowl & swirled it around. Did the job well! Make sure to press the cookies down before you put them in the oven, because they definitely will not flatten on their own.

Here's the recipe.

Of course...we actually barely ate any of these. Ha, that's the way things work in our kitchen. We buy or make LOADS of delicious things, and hardly seem to eat them when they are here. Perhaps that's due to there only being 2 of us here, but for whatever reason there is an entire container of stale cookies currently sitting on our kitchen table. Luckily, I gave away quite a few of them. :) And they were well-received!

You won't be sorry if you make them...good luck!

Sometimes I'm a mess!

2008-02-04T00:49:00.000-05:00

Today was both a bad and good day in my world of baking. Bad because I broke some things. Good because I have a wonderful friend who only wants me to be happy. :)

Usually I like to hear bad news first because then I get to save the good, but lately I've been realizing that might not be the best way to think, so I'll start off differently today.

The good is that a very amazing friend of mine gave me a surprise present, for no reason at all whatsoever! It was really sweet and really made my day.

The bad is that when I got home I decided I wanted some dessert (yes we do need to eat dessert after breakfast), so I got ready to make some brownies (box mix...mint - yum!) & use my new toy. :)

Now there was the remnants of some cake I made Tim earlier in the week sitting on the stove on top of one of the rear burners. After I turn the oven on, Tim moves it away & informs me that there is a vent in that burner & (surprise) it gets really hot back there so we shouldn't keep anything on it. Now, I knew that the back of the stove got hot, but somehow, honest to god, I never knew there was a vent back there. So Tim goes outside to shovel some snow, & what do I do? I put a PLASTIC LID from a tupperware container RIGHT ON THE BURNER.

Ok, not my most shining moment. It melted all over the burner. So I pull the burner off the oven & run to ask Tim what to do. He assures me it's ok, at which point I return to the mixing bowl. Contentedly mixing, suddenly the head of my spatula breaks in half. The wood pops through the rubber part. GREAT. I loved that spatula. Yeah, silly, I know, but it was one of the first tools I bought for my kitchen in my new apt & it was GREEN! And it had a bamboo handle. And I broke it. *tear*

Just not one of my best days in the kitchen. This day topped off my week which consisted of me showcasing my cake baking skills. I guess the cake itself was ok (though I didn't love the taste of it) but when I tried to make lemon curd to put between the layers, I mixed together all 8 egg yolks, 3 lemons juiced & zested, & proceeded to boil the eggs. Yum. Everyone loves boiled egg in their lemon curd. Determined to not waste 20 minutes of zesting, juicing, and separating, I tried to strain out the egg. Yes, I know, illogical, but it made sense at the time. I figured even if I didn't get the lemon curd to work out (even though that was the whole point of making the cake), I could make some excellent icing. So what do I do? I manage to somehow beat the sides of the pan into the icing. Little black flecks of teflon. Needless to say, I won't be adding a post about that one (although you can read how to make it properly here).

So the brownies were yummy after all, I broke up some spare junior mints & put some extra chocolate chips in it to make it ultra-not-so-good-for-me.

Haha, you thought you were going to get a recipe for brownies today, but instead all you get is the knowledge that I make my brownies from a box! :)

Here's to a great start to your week!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

2008-01-31T01:30:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I was babysitting, and a favorite activity for one of the little girls (Elise) is baking muffins. Yes, she's 3. And, honest to god, she helps A LOT. She has mixed all of the ingredients more times than I can count, and she also loves pouring things into the bowl, and my favorite...cracking the egg (though she won't touch the actual inside of the egg, hehe).

Now yesterday Elise had the most awful cough I've heard in a while. And as a reminder, she's 3, and she's stirring the ingredients for the muffins. So where do you think the coughing was directed? Yup...right into the batter. Yuuuuuum.... I mean ew.

I decided that at 425 degrees all the germs would be killed, plus if I'm going to get sick from her, heck I'll get sick whether I eat the muffins or not. And I was really excited about these muffins. Anyway, promptly after we put the muffins in the oven, Elise was asleep on the couch. So I continued the baking activities with Evan, a cute but rascal-y 18 month-old.

So there's not much to do at this point...the muffins are in the oven, there's plenty of time, and Evan's shirt is off so we go upstairs to get a new one. We come downstairs, plenty of time still, try to put the shirt on but it's a no-go. Ok, no shirt. Wait...apparently no pants either. Great. Alright so here's the point when Evan tries to pull his diaper off. Fine. Ok, diaper off. He's starting to use the potty, so presumably he won't pee all over the floor. Hmmm...those muffins should be done...uhhhhhh wait. Evan is making all kinds of squeaky noises...I run for the potty but now he's PEEING ALL OVER THE FLOOR.

At this point I'm running for some towels, yelling for Evan to stop (which of course he can't do) and trying to get him to sit on the potty before it's too late, which it already is. I throw some baby wipes on the floor...wait Sarah, what is that exactly going to do? I recover and find some paper towels, but now Evan is bawling. Pee all over the floor, crying kid.

So I quickly pick up the miserable (naked, presumably wet
with urine) child and rock him around the room. Now, I smell burnt something...oh, burnt muffins. Of course.

Despite disasters, the second batch of muffins came out delicious, (actually I even ate the burnt ones...I kind of don't mind burnt things) and we ate them up quick.

So here's my recipe...gotta love cranberry & orange flavors together!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oatmeal (mine was quick cook)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
grated rind of most of an orange
1 large egg
3/4 cup vanilla yogurt + 1/2 cup milk
3 tsp juice from the orange you just zested!
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp applesauce
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients into a bowl and blend thoroughly. In a separate large bowl, stir together egg, yogurt & milk, orange juice, butter & applesauce. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until just blended. Add cranberries & again stir until just blended. Batter will look somewhat runny. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven. Makes about 12 regular sized muffins.

So I fully intended to take more pictures today when it was bright and sunny, but unfortunately...we ate them all. I completely forgot. Enjoy the cute pictures of Evan enjoying the muffins instead...his cute poses should be enough of a reason to try them!

Cherry & Blueberry Whole Wheat Scones

2008-01-28T12:33:00.002-05:00

I made the scones from Farmgirl Fare a few weeks ago (with whole wheat flour) & I was so excited that they had such a nice texture & shape! Tim & I both enjoyed them in the morning as a quick breakfast.

They were easy to make, and all the ingredients sounded perfect together. I was happily mixing all the ingredients and finally got to the spices...my favorite part. I began dumping the nutmeg into the mixture with relish, and suddenly realized that...I don't actually like the taste of nutmeg.

Now of course the scones were still delicious even though it's not a flavor I love, but the next time around I decided to stick with cinnamon, and also to make them a tiny bit healthier (read: not as good) by removing some butter. I figured if we were going to eat them every morning for breakfast, I wanted them to be as healthy as possible while still tasting yummy.

Also, I suppose now is as good a time as any to reveal a secret...I don't like butter. It's not that I don't love baked goods, because I do, and I also LOVE dessert. However, I don't put butter on my bread, and I don't add it to my rice or pasta. I'm just not into it. So while I love desserts other people bake with tons of butter, I just can't bring myself to add a lot of butter to things that I bake myself.

Now that my secret is revealed, perhaps I should tell you what I actually did put in this recipe instead of all the things I left out. Instead of cranberries I used a mix of cherries and blueberries. The scones could probably use even more than I put in the recipe, but I didn't have any more on hand. For the oatmeal in the recipe, I placed it into a (tiny!) food processor and ran it a few times around to get the oatmeal smaller. I love oatmeal, but I tend to not love the big chunks in my scones, so I often use a blender or food processor to make kind of a chunky oat flour.

For the butter that is in the recipe, the original recipe suggests that you cut the butter into bits to make it easier to blend into the flour. Makes sense. Instead, I just threw the 1/2 stick into the flour & used *a fork* (I desperately need a pastry blender) to flake the butter into the flour. Took FOREVER but turned out just fine. :)

Ok, here's the recipe, a bit different from the original:

Cherry & Blueberry Whole Wheat Scones
adapted from Farmgirl Fare

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, chilled
1/2 cup cherries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup chopped almonds

1 egg
3 tbsp vanilla yogurt + milk to make 3/4 cup*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix together flours, oatmeal, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, & cinnamon. Add butter to mixture & blend in using a fork or a pastry blender until coarse crumbles appear. Add berries and nuts. In a separate bowl, beat together yogurt, milk, & egg. Using a spatula, integrate dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just blended. The dough shouldn't be too sticky, so if the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl you can add a bit more flour.

On a floured surface, take half of the dough & form a circle, as if you were making an extremely thick pizza crust. Use a large knife (I used a floured pizza cutter!) to divide the circle into 6 pieces. Repeat with the other half of the dough, then place the sections onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. You can easily freeze these, or store them in a container for a few days.

*You can also use buttermilk...I didn't have any buttermilk and I decided to use vanilla yogurt and skip the vanilla extract. If you don't have vanilla yogurt (or if you use buttermilk), you'll want to add 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract to the recipe.

The scones were not very sweet at all, so if you prefer sweeter scones (I try to avoid too much sugar in the mornings), add another 1/4 cup of sugar.

And I won't be mad if you like the original recipe better. :) Sometimes I go over the top in my quest to be healthy!

Updated: Semi-nutritional facts

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
12 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories		210.9

Total Fat		7.2 g

	Saturated Fat	2.8 g

	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.0 g

	Monounsaturated Fat	2.8 g

Cholesterol		28.3 mg

Sodium		248.7 mg

Potassium		140.0 mg

Total Carbohydrate		32.4 g

	Dietary Fiber	3.3 g

	Sugars	8.0 g

Protein		5.9 g


Vitamin A	8.3 %

Vitamin B-12	0.8 %

Vitamin B-6	1.4 %

Vitamin C	0.2 %

Vitamin D	2.2 %

Vitamin E	6.1 %

Calcium	9.5 %

Copper	6.3 %

Folate	7.0 %

Iron	7.9 %

Magnesium	7.9 %

Manganese	33.6 %

Niacin	4.4 %

Pantothenic Acid	2.5 %

Phosphorus	10.7 %

Riboflavin	7.1 %

Selenium	7.2 %

Thiamin	11.2 %

Zinc	4.3 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

*from SparkRecipes

Rice Puddin'

2008-01-25T19:34:00.000-05:00

I must admit, I used to love the smell of rice pudding only for its cinnamon sprinkled on top. Once I tasted it, I had an entirely different feeling about it. How could something that smelled so wonderful taste so awful?

Over time, though, I grew to LOVE rice pudding. I go through phases where I will eat an entire container in 2 days. Once I decided to try making my own, I started with the basics. And that's where I've stayed. :)

This version is super simple, but time consuming. It basically involves letting rice, milk & sugar simmer on the stove for over an hour. I never exactly time how long it takes (one of my worst tendencies when it comes to cooking), rather I watch it until the milk is mostly soaked up. It will thicken a little more once you take if off the heat, but you should get it close to the consistency you desire before you remove it from the stove.

I would love to hear if anyone has any variations. Most of the recipes I see just vary in amount of each of the ingredients. Oh, I've forgotten to mention the biggest secret to my rice pudding...skim milk.

I know, I know, skim milk does not a rice pudding make. But it's all I ever have in the house, and honestly it thickens up pretty well. And it's a guilt-free dessert! So if you'd prefer a dessert that actually tastes good (just kidding!) feel free to use whatever milk you'd prefer.

Rice Pudding

1 3/4 cups skim milk
1/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 tbsp sugar (more if you like it really sweet)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pour milk, rice, sugar, and vanilla into a saucepan on the stove. Mix together & begin heating on medium until the sides of the pot begin to bubble. Just before the mixture is going to boil, turn the heat down to low or medium-low (whatever keeps the pot at a low simmer) and keep an eye on the pot for the next hour, stirring occasionally.

Add cinnamon either a few minutes before you take the mixture off the heat, or sprinkle it on top to serve.

Serves 2 (or just one if you're me!)

I actually accidentally ate most of this hot off the stove. Many people eat it warm, and it does taste good this way. I prefer it cold, but I find that I can rarely wait that long. You really just need to be patient & keep an eye on the pot. Oh, I will mention though that at some point during the process I walked away from the stove for a while & came back to a nice thick skin on the top of the milk...so I skimmed it off, threw it out, and continued cooking. I know, gross, but just remember, little mistakes often don't have that much of an impact.

Hope you enjoy!

Waffle Photos

2008-01-24T15:20:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I keep making this awful mistake where I don't remember to write down ANYTHING about the recipes I make. Oh, but I do manage to photograph them. So I know what they look like, and the general ingredients, but the measurements...ha. Who needs measurements anyway, right?

So instead, today only (one time special offer), you get some pictures, with a promise for recipes soon because...I'm baking today... :)

Oh, and a side note I've been meaning to mention something regarding my pictures...sorry they're often so awful! In my tiny dingy apartment (in the winter, when it's been ungodly cloudy for weeks on end), I have awful lighting. And when I'm making recipes it's usually night. Hence, awful pictures. But the recipes taste very good, despite the quality of the pictures, I swear!

Today I'm sharing pictures of whole wheat waffles. I'm very into whole wheat, and I really like the taste of it, so I use it often in recipes. It's good for you too!

And just so you know, there is no way in heck that I would ever use this much confectioner's sugar on ANYTHING I make. But my darling boyfriend loves it, and hilariously when he took his first bite, he starting coughing violently. And that's what happens when you have too much of a good thing. ;)

Polenta Lasagna

2008-01-21T23:21:00.000-05:00

My almost week hiatus was due partly to being busy, but also due to my stomach acting up, which caused me to not even want to think about food. It was so sad!

This was our dinner from sometime last week. I was a little worried about how it would taste at first, as I don't like polenta at all on its own, but it turned out really really good in this recipe. You can find a tube of polenta at Trader Joe's (or at least that's where I got mine) or the organic section of your grocery store.

Polenta Lasagna

adapted a bunch from Parents magazine, of all places

1 1/2 jars tomato sauce (1 jar would probably suffice)
1 green pepper, diced
1 cup baby spinach
1 tube of pre-cooked polenta, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
12 oz low fat ricotta cheese
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat sauce in a skillet on the stove. (If you are adding meat to the recipe, brown meat in the pan then add sauce & simmer until warm.)

2. Spray small pan with cooking spray & heat spinach and green pepper on medium-low until cooked through. Add salt & pepper if you'd like.

3. In a casserole dish, pour 1/3-1/2 of the sauce. Layer with about half of the polenta slices, then add peppers and spinach. Scoop 1/2 the ricotta onto the polenta, then spread a layer of mozzarella. Add more sauce, polenta, ricotta, and then a last layer of sauce. Spread a thick layer of mozzarella on top, along with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Feel free to add other ingredients as you'd like! Tim ate it for lunch at least 3 days in a row, so it must have been good. :)

Lime Sugar Cookies

2008-01-16T00:31:00.000-05:00

Another one of my promised Christmas cookie recipes, much after Christmas, but luckily it's not really a holiday cookie anyway, just a regular ol' delicious anytime one!

These were different than cookies I've made before. I don't really like sugar cookies (not a fan of sweets that just taste like sugar) but I thought this one would be interesting with the lime flavor. Also, since I made them so tiny, they are a bit crispier than the typical soft sugar cookie. I'm not sure that they would become more like a typical cookie if you made them bigger, but that's what I would think.

My family & friends will tell you that they tasted yummy, actually I think they were one of the most talked about recipes. Since I don't really like sugar cookies, they weren't my favorite. The lime flavor wasn't pronounced enough for me to change my opinion of sugar cookies, although I think it was the right amount for this recipe. I kept thinking about adding more lime, but I think that would have been too much. I was definitely glad I made them. I don't think I really made any modifications (or if I did, I certainly can't remember now!).

The recipe came from here: Technicolor Kitchen

(It seems I need some baking/cooking books, since all of recipes are from the internet.)

Lime Sugar Cookies

2 cups (400g) sugar, divided
zest of 2 large limes
1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 ¾ cups (385g) flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Prepare cookie dough: In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and remaining 1 ½ cups (300g) sugar. Blend in eggs, one at a time then add vanilla, lime juice, and remaining lime zest. Add flour mixture, one cup at a time, blending well after each addition, until all flour is incorporated.

Refrigerate dough for one hour.

Prepare lime sugar (should be done when you are getting ready to bake cookies): In a mini food processor, blend ½ cup (100g) sugar with 1 teaspoon lime zest. Pulse several times until the zest is incorporated into the sugar. Put sugar mixture in a shallow bowl and stir lightly with a fork to break up any clumps. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 175ºC/350ºF and line 2 baking sheets with waxed or baking paper.

Shape the cookies: Shape one tablespoonful* of dough into a ball and roll in lime sugar. Place ball of dough on cookie sheet and press down lightly with the bottom of a glass until cookie is about 1.25cm (½ in) thick (mine were thinner) – it might help to press the glass first in the sugar then onto the dough, then it won’t stick. Repeat.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes at 175ºC/350ºF.

Makes: 55 large cookies

The recipe is pretty easy, aside from the time consuming sugar coating. I actually accidentally made the lime sugar days before I baked the cookies (on second thought maybe that's why the flavor wasn't as pronounced!), so the mixture was a bit clumpy when I got to coating the cookies, but it still worked out ok.

Enjoy!

My contribution to dinner with Tim's parents!

2008-01-13T22:30:00.000-05:00

We had dinner the other night with Tim's family, but since I don't eat meat like all the other sane people, Tim's mom had an alternate recipe for me, and since we got there hours before dinner, I helped prepare it. I'm not sure exactly where the recipe came from, and I looked for it online with no success, so if anyone knows where it came from, please let me know. I decided it is called yummy zucchini potato bake.

Here it is, with some modifications:

Yummy Zucchini Potato Bake

2 medium zucchinis, diced into tiny pieces
7 baby sized red skin potatoes
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper
1 head broccoli, cut up into florets
1 carrot, diced
1 tsp diced garlic or garlic powder
1 bag shredded Italian or Mexican cheese (we used mexican)

Throw the potatoes & carrot together in the bottom of a greased glass casserole dish with salt & pepper. Drizzle with olive oil (add more if you wish). Toss. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 min.

Remove the dish from the oven and add the rest of the vegetables, as well as the diced garlic or garlic powder. (We used garlic powder because it seemed easier, but diced garlic probably tastes much better!) Mix thoroughly. Bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cover top of casserole with cheese, and put back in oven for a few more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

It was very tasty & the spices (& veggies) can be adjusted according to your taste!

For dessert we had a cake that I made for Tim's sister Kate because it was her birthday, and while I wasn't entirely successful in my cake making, it was my first time making a cake from scratch (I must confess, I love cake mixes) & it still tasted pretty good!

Let's see, where did I get the recipe from...

It was originally from Gourmet, January 2008. I found it on my #1 favorite website (I know, I've said that about a million different websites already): Smitten Kitchen

I definitely can't explain it better than her, so please click on her link if you want to try it! I can say, I've never made caramel before, so this was definitely hard for me, and I ended up almost burning it (ok, ok I burnt it the first time & had to make a second batch, which was successful until I realized I made it too early, had to turn off the heat, and reheat it later), which caused me to completely forget the vanilla. I know it would have had much better flavor with the vanilla, but I got compliments without, which means you should try it, it can turn out great even if you mess up!

(This is me making caramel, possibly unsuccessfully, but it will definitely boil a lot. I had more success putting it on medium heat to keep the temperature rising slowly.)

I think the success to the cake recipe is the buttermilk, which definitely added a good texture & moistness to the cake. I often don't like yellow cakes, but this one was better than most I've had. And, as I've already mentioned, everyone really liked it.

Tortilla Pie

2008-01-10T22:06:00.001-05:00

I made a delicious dinner tonight!

Ok, well while it was indeed delicious, it was hardly gourmet. But it made my stomach happy!

I got the recipe for tortilla pie from the allrecipes.com website, and I've made it a few times. The first time I made it, I just used one ingredient for each different layer, instead of mixing the ingredients together first. I didn't really notice a difference...the first time I think I also put in some brown rice, which gave it some more texture, but was hardly necessary since there are already plenty of carbs. Anyway, without further ado, here's the recipe:

Seven Layer Tortilla Pie
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can black beans (I used Trader Joe's Cuban Black Beans)
1 cup salsa, divided into 1/4 and 3/4 cup
1 (15 ounce) can refried black beans
1/2 cup diced tomatoes (from a can) drained
1 cup green bell pepper, diced
6 or 7 (8 inch) flour tortillas
2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mash pinto beans with refried black beans. Stir in 3/4 cup salsa.
In a separate bowl, mix together 1/4 cup salsa, black beans, green peppers, and tomatoes.
Place 1 tortilla in a pie plate or tart dish. Spread 3/4 cup pinto bean/refried black bean mixture over tortilla to within 1/2 inch of edge. Top with 1/4 cup cheese, and cover with another tortilla. Spread with 2/3 cup black bean mixture, and top with 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat layering as many times as you want!
Cover with foil, and bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Cut into wedges, and serve with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Basically this recipe is very forgiving. Add anything that you have around. Tim prefers it covered in loads of hot sauce :) but I think the flavor is just perfect the way it is. I hope you enjoy a nice easy dinner as I did!

Coconut Chocolate Pudding

2008-01-07T22:41:00.000-05:00

Tim had something or other to do the other night, so after finally straightening up the house now that we've been back from Jersey for a week, I decided to make some pudding that I've been threatening to make forever. We also had some mini graham cracker crumb pie crusts that we had bought so we could find something to put in them, so I figured this would be perfect.

The pudding turned out AMAZING. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to pull it off, but it was relatively easy. I had to go out and buy special cocoa for this project, as it calls for dutched cocoa, or cocoa processed with alkali. The grocery store didn't carry it here, but it might be in grocery stores elsewhere. Just check the ingredients to make sure it states: cocoa processed with alkali.

This website shows the original recipe & instructions:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/coconut-chocolate-pudding-recipe.html

I didn't modify this much at all, except I didn't have lite coconut milk so I used regular. Probably tasted better (richer) that way anyway! I also didn't use curry powder, but used a mix of ingredients suggested by one of the reviewers

Coconut Chocolate Pudding Recipe

1 14-ounce can of coconut milk, divided
3 tbsp sugar
scant 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cornstarch, sifted
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp chili powder
3 tablespoons alkalized dutch-cocoa powder, sifted
3.5-ounce Ghiradellhi bittersweet chocolate chips (or any dark chocolate)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut flakes, toasted in a dry skillet

Shake the can of coconut milk vigorously for a few seconds. In a heavy saucepan bring 1 1/4 cups of the coconut milk, sugar, and the salt (just) to a simmer over low heat.

While that is heating, in a separate bowl whisk together the remaining coconut milk, cornstarch, spices, and cocoa powder. It should look like a chocolate frosting.

When the coconut milk and sugar mixture has started simmering take about 1/4 cup of it and whisk it little by little into the cornstarch mixture, creating a slurry. Turn down the heat to the very lowest setting. Now drizzle the cornstarch slurry mixture into the simmering pan of coconut milk whisking vigorously all the while. Keep whisking until the pudding comes back up barely to a simmer and thickens up a bit, about a minute.

Remove the saucepan from heat, continue whisking while it is cooling for about a minute. Now whisk in the chocolate and vanilla. Keep stirring until the pudding is smooth. Place in a refrigerator to chill thoroughly. To prevent a skin from forming press plastic up against the surface of the pudding. Serve dusted with the coconut flakes.

Serves six.

This was really rich, almost like a heavy mousse (or maybe not like mousse, I don't know that I've actually ever had mousse). It wasn't anything like pudding that I've had before, but it was good! Send me a comment if you have any questions & I'll be glad to try to answer them!

Recipe #3!

2008-01-03T21:41:00.000-05:00

This recipe was by far my favorite of the bunch, which is saying a lot since I usually am not a fan of butterscotch flavor. The nice thing about these is that the flavor comes from the combination of white chocolate and vanilla. It depends on your tastes how long you want to bake them - whether you like them crunchy or soft - but I recommend baking them until they are just beyond doughy.

(This recipe is also adapted from Gigi Cakes, just like my previous recipe.)

Butterscotch Cookies

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup margarine, at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
8 oz white chocolate, chopped into chunks (I used 4 oz ghiradelli baking bar mixed with some chopped up white chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In medium bowl sift together the flour, baking soda & salt; set aside.

Beat together brown sugar, butter and margarine until light & fluffy. Add egg & vanilla extract & beat until combined. Add the flour gradually and mix until just combined. Stir in the white chocolate.

Drop 2 tbsp of dough at a time about 2 inches apart. Bake until centers no longer look doughy, about 10 minutes. Let cookies cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to metal racks to cool completely.

Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Yay Christmas cookies!

2007-12-28T00:34:00.000-05:00

It's definitely after Christmas, and I've had these cookies finished for weeks, but I'm finally getting some time to sit down & share them. I think I'll do a couple recipes at a time, since I have quite a few to post.

First: (and a special one, as it was my Christmas gift to extended family)

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra light tasting olive oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup chopped dried cranberries
1 cup chopped raw pistachios

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Cream together olive oil & sugar. Add extracts & eggs, mix until blended. Sift together flour, salt & baking powder; gradually add to egg mixture (abt 1/2 cup at a time). Mix in cranberries & nuts by hand.

Divide dough in half, and form 2 logs (12 x 2 in) on lightly greased cookie sheet. Dough will be sticky, wet hands with cool water to shape logs more easily. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven & transport to cooling racks. Reduce oven heat to 275 degrees F.

Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes, or until the logs are cool enough to slice without crumbling. Once cooled, cut logs into 1/4 inch diagonal slices. Place cookie slices onto cookie sheet and place back into the oven. Let bake for about 20-25 minutes, flipping them over halfway through, or until dry. Makes about 36 cookies.

Mmmmm. I used the tasting oil because I wanted a really light oil, but some suggested using canola oil instead. I haven't personally tried it, but I bet it would work.

(Important side note: Twice when making this recipe I didn't have enough time to put the cookies in the oven the second time, so I completed the baking the next day. This didn't work at all...I ended up with gross, hard, crunchy, flavorless cookies. Not sure exactly why.)

When I was through, I also melted dark chocolate (microwave on "defrost" or use a double boiler) & dipped the bottoms of the biscotti into it. Made it a thousand times better!

Second:
World Peace Cookies
from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: My Home to Yours"

Serious Eats: Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies

Yes, I'm taking the easy way out with this one. I don't think I changed much at all with this recipe, although I did think 5 oz was a bit too much chocolate (fell apart when cutting) & I used the sea salt grinder I had in my kitchen instead of fleur de sel. I actually came across the recipe here:
Gigi Cakes

I very much like this blog, especially because she updates with yummy recipes so often!

World Peace Cookies are very good, with a different texture than I am used to in a cookie, and a lot of flavor. My boyfriend also LOVES the dough (I know, no eating raw eggs!) & kept sneaking into the fridge to eat it while I was letting it refrigerate.

Sorry the picture's not better, it's the only one I've got!

Hope you enjoy as much as I do!